NJ Township Seeks To Revise $2.5B DuPont PFAS Settlement

By Mike Curley

Carneys Point Township, New Jersey, is aiming to intervene in the state's federal suit against E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and others over PFAS contamination, saying a settlement of more than $2.5 billion interferes with its own claims against the company.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Live Nation Says Promoter Can't Revive Nixed Damages

By Carla Baranauckas

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. urged a New Jersey federal judge Tuesday to bar all evidence of damages in a long-running concert interference lawsuit, arguing that a defunct promoter's trial plan attempts to revive allegations the court deemed inadmissible.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Justices Asked How 'Beneficial Use' Should Affect Zoning

By George Woolston

A Garden State town urged the New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday to provide a blueprint for how municipal zoning boards should evaluate variance applications under a nearly three-decade-old amendment to the state's land use law, arguing that a lower court did not give the update proper consideration when it overturned the town's denial of a senior living facility.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Panel Backs Arbitrator's Ruling In Parking Spaces Spat

By Isaac Monterose

A New Jersey appellate court affirmed an arbitrator's decision that determined that two developers had to permanently maintain parking spaces for an Edgewater, New Jersey, mixed-use complex, ruling that the arbitrator for the related dispute didn't overstep their authority.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Margolis Edelstein Says Insurer Can't Challenge Settlement

By Adrian Cruz

Insurance litigation firm Margolis Edelstein told a New Jersey state court that an insurer's legal malpractice suit against the firm should be tossed because its inability to challenge the value of an underlying settlement invalidates the entire matter.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

1st Circ. May Nix Trump Funding Freeze In 'Weird' Case

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit on Tuesday hinted that a federal judge may have been in bounds when blocking the Trump administration from withholding certain funds for states, expressing skepticism that the judge's order was improper or overly broad.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Questions If Trump's Say-So Makes Wind Edict Legal

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday lamented a lack of clear guidance from higher courts as she considered whether wind farm permits can be put on hold indefinitely based solely on a directive from the president.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lower Costs No Cause For VA To Shirk Trade Act, Judge Says

By Tom Lotshaw

A federal judge said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can't use the lower cost of drugs from countries not designated under the Trade Agreements Act to reject the higher prices of companies that propose to source them from compliant countries.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

3rd Circ. Backs Burger King's Win In Miscarriage Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

The Third Circuit upheld an arbitrator's ruling that Burger King didn't discriminate against an ex-employee's pregnancy when her superiors wouldn't relieve her when she miscarried during a shift, finding the arbitrator rationally determined that bias did not infect company decision-making.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

NJ Supreme Court Approves 'NextGen' Bar Exam For 2028

By Sarah Martinson

The New Jersey Supreme Court has adopted the "Next Generation" bar exam and will begin administering the new test in July 2028, following recommendations made by an ad hoc committee earlier this year.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Power Market Reforms Push Data Center Lease Rates Higher

Rising demand, constrained supply and ongoing reforms, amid a rush for reliable, near-term computing capacity, are putting pressure on data center leasing renewal rates in large markets such as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and PJM Interconnection Inc., say attorneys at Weil.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Litigation Funding Could Create Ethics Issues For Attorneys

A litigation investor’s recent complaint claiming a New York mass torts lawyer effectively ran a Ponzi scheme illustrates how litigation funding arrangements can subject attorneys to legal ethics dilemmas and potential liability, so engagement letters must have very clear terms, says Matthew Feinberg at Goldberg Segalla.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Bonus Spotlight

Cravath Unveils Associate Bonuses, Multiple Firms Follow

By Aebra Coe

Multiple firms swiftly fell in line Tuesday evening just hours after Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP announced associate bonuses in line with those offered last year, continuing a long tradition of BigLaw firms following Cravath's lead on compensation.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pillsbury Winthrop Latest Firm Targeted By Data Breach Suit

By Hailey Konnath

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on Tuesday was hit with a proposed class action stemming from a data breach the firm says happened in April, adding to the growing litigation firms are facing in the aftermath of cyberattacks.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Perkins Coie's Trump Fight Doesn't Scare Off UK Suitor

By Chris Villani

Perkins Coie LLP's ongoing fight with the Trump administration did not deter a proposed combination with British law firm Ashurst, signaling that the legal community is not worried about fallout from the president's suspension of the firm's security clearances.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Republican Senators Seek Judge Boasberg's Suspension

By Courtney Bublé

Six Republican senators, three of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, are asking that Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia be administratively suspended while Congress considers his impeachment.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sanctioned Atty Convinces Mo. Court Errors Not Caused By AI

By Emily Sawicki

A Missouri federal judge sanctioned former counsel for Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance Co. Monday for including citation errors in a motion this fall, finding that, although the attorney likely inserted the errors herself without the use of AI software, "such carelessness, exacerbated by a lack of internal guardrails, is entirely unacceptable."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Conn. Atty Fined $500 For AI-Generated Errors In Wage Suit

By Emily Sawicki

In an order that noted an attorney's remorse, a Connecticut federal judge sanctioned a solo practitioner $500 this week for submitting a brief packed with false, AI-generated case citations, finding the fake authorities wasted court resources, risked misleading a pro se litigant and undermined trust in the judicial system.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Disbarred NC Atty Must Pay $5.2M For Escrow Fund Misuse

By Abigail Harrison

A disbarred attorney was ordered to pay $5.2 million in restitution and serve four years of probation during a Tuesday sentencing hearing in North Carolina federal court, after he pled guilty to a criminal wire fraud charge related to the misuse of escrow funds.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Upholds NY Law Blocking ICE Courthouse Arrests

By Andrea Keckley

New York beat back a federal lawsuit challenging the state's policy barring immigration officials from arresting people near its courthouses, after a federal judge rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's preemption claims.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY AG James Blasts 'Outrageous Conduct' Behind Indictment

By Adrian Cruz

New York Attorney General Letitia A. James has told a Virginia federal court to dismiss the U.S. government's indictment of her, calling it "patently unconstitutional" and "outrageous conduct."

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

McGuireWoods Is Delaying Defamation Case, NC Justices Told

By Hayley Fowler

The former CEO of a managed care organization who alleges McGuireWoods and one of its ex-partners defamed him during a press conference more than seven years ago has told North Carolina's top court not to take up the case, panning their petition as yet another stalling tactic.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Missouri Federal Judge To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool of the Western District of Missouri has given notice he will take senior status upon the confirmation of state Judge Megan Benton, whose nomination to the federal bench President Donald Trump announced Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

CFPB's Gradler Takes Deputy Post Amid Agency Uncertainty

By Jon Hill

Geof Gradler, a former industry lobbyist who recently joined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's front office, said that he is taking over as the agency's deputy director, a job that positions him as a potential successor to acting director Russell Vought.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »